Game-counter



(No Model.)

J. SOLATINOW.

GAME COUNTER.

No. 571,174. Patented Nov. 10, 1896.

IV V E N TOR Jasgziz 101mm UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

JOSEPH SOLATINOV, OF PATERSON, NElV JERSEY.

GAME-COUNTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 571,174, dated November 10, 1896.

Application filed May 6, 1896. Serial No. 590,482. (No model.)

To (LZZ when 21! 717,12. (Jo/warn:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH SOLATINOW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Paterson ,in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Game-Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a game-iinlicator, and the purpose of the same is to enable a number of players to readily indicate and ascertain the number of points made by and the number of games lost by each player, a further object being to provide a simple, attractive, and convenient device for this purpose in which when the movable buttons or counters are shifted it is not very easy to move the same accidentally, so as to disturb the score which has been set.

My invention consists of certain features of construction to be hereinafter described and then claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of my improved game-indicator. Fig. 2 is a transverse section thereof on line 2 2 of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts.

The baseboard A of my improved indicator for games, such as penuchle and the like, may be of rectangular or other suitable shape. It is preferably of rectangular shape, so as to provide four sides, one for each player,when there are four players.

Located on the upper surface of the baseboard A, and arranged in parallel order near the edges of the same, are four sets of stringing-wires, respectively, B B B each set of wires being arranged parallel with each edge of the board and being located at a sufficient distance apart, so that the sliding buttons or counters C 0 G which are perforated so as to receive the wires, can be readily slid along the wires without the interference of one set of buttons or counters with the other set. These stringing-wires 13 B B are at each end provided with downwardly-projecting ends or feet I), which are inserted into the baseboard A, so as to be rigidly secured therein, said wires terminating adjacent to the diagonals of the rectangular base-board, so that spaces are left between the juxtaposed ends of the wires of the differents sets. The wires are arched, the upper portions being in the form of a flattened V inverted, that is to say, at their mid-lengths they are quite high and incline downwardly therefrom toward the ends. I designate wire B the units-wire, 1 the te11s-wire,and B the hundreds-wire, and place between the ends of the corresponding wires, where they are located near each other at the diagonals of' the base-board, a nmnber corresponding with their value.

The obj ectof arching the stringing-wires, as shown, is to prevent the unintentional shifting of the buttons C C O from one end to the other of the same, as might be done by the accidental movement of the board itself, the arched form of each wire rendering it necessary to positively shift each button, so as to clear the highest point.

In order to more readily distinguish the respective stringing-wires from each other, they are arranged at different heights, that is to say, the hundreds-wire is the lowest, the tenswire is higher, and the units-wire is the highest. This also tends to prevent interference of one set of buttons with the other, and enables the stringing-wires to be more closely arranged together than if they were arranged in the same plane.

At the center of the upper surface of the base-board A are arranged a series of four diametrically radiating stringing-wires .l) D D D which are quite short and do not extend as far as the huinlreds-wires, they, like the other wires, being furnished with buttons (7, which are perforated so as to be strung upon the wires. The buttons (1 are for the purpose of indicating how many games each playerloses, and the wires on which they are strung are arched in a manner similar to the other wires to prevent their being too easily moved. In the drawings, ten buttons 0 0 C respectively, are shown, and four buttons (Z for each of the center wires are also shown, but it is not necessary to always use the same number of buttons.

Two, three, or four players can count the number of points won or lost on this gameindicator, and each player counts as follows: Supposing a player wins ten points at different times, so that the buttons on the unitswire are moved. from one end, say the left hand end, to the right-hand end, said buttons having cleared the highest point of the wire. The player now takes the ten shifted buttons O and moves them back to their original position, and in place thereof shifts from the left-hand end to the right-hand end of the tens-wire B one of the buttons 0. If all of the buttons on the tens-wire 13 have been shifted from the left-hand end to the righthand end, the player now moves all these buttons back to their original position, and in place thereof moves one of the buttons (J on the hundreds wire toward the right-hand end of the same. By providing a units, tens, and lnindreds-wire for each player, each wire carrying ten buttons, it is possible to count as high as one thousand one hundred and ten, this being as high as is necessary for practical purposes.

The matter of addition and subtraction on this game-indicator can be carried out as on the well-known abacus. In the case of subtraction, supposing a player loses eleven points, for instance, and the whole of the buttons on the units-wire are moved to the righthand end and one of the buttons on the tenswire is moved to its right-hand end, then the player simply shifts the button 0 back to the left-hand end of the tenswire and one of the buttons on the units-wire back to the lefthand end of said wire, this same plan being carried out with other examples in an evident manner.

\Yhen a player loses a game, one ot the buttons (Z on the stringing-wire which belongs to the player is shifted toward the out er end of the wire, so that at any time any player can ascertain the number of games lost by another player, while by the buttons on the other wires'the player can also ascertain the number of points which the other player has.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent A game-indicator, consisting of a baseboard, several sets of strin gin g-wires arranged around the outer edge of the board at right angles to each other, and upon the upper side of the base-board, said sets of wires being of greater length than height, and each wire having downwardly-projecting ends or feet inserted into the base-board, and being of flat, inverted-V shape between the ends or feet, and sliding buttons on said wires, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed in y name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH SOLA'llNUW. lVitnesses:

.GEo. L. WHEELoon, S. E. SMITH. 

